Everton boss Frank Lampard has paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo after the Manchester United forward scored his 700th goal in senior football at Goodison Park.

Lampard admitted he would have preferred that the Portuguese international had reached the landmark against Omonia on Thursday night, rather than against his team, but he acknowledged it was an “amazing” achievement:

“He keeps scoring goals as he’s done and to rack the numbers up that he’s racked up, that’s just become normal – abnormal numbers have become normal year after year. Looking after himself in the right way, I don’t know him particularly well, but you can do nothing but admire those numbers – they’re amazing.”

“When he was on 699, I wanted him to score in the Europa League the other night because you could feel what might come at the weekend, and then he comes on because Martial has got a problem – sometimes those things happen in football. But in the cold light of day, I’ll give him huge credit for that, it’s amazing.”

Fair play to Lampard for recognising Ronaldo’s extraordinary milestone. Some managers after a defeat would not have taken the time to praise an opposing player but he clearly felt that Ronaldo’s record needed to be applauded.

It will be interesting to see how manager Erik ten Hag deals with Ronaldo going forward. With Anthony Martial injured again, there will be calls for the Portuguese star to start the next league fixture against Newcastle, especially after his goal versus Everton.

Up until this point, ten Hag has been reluctant to name him in his first eleven, with many feeling that the veteran striker doesn’t fit into the Dutchman’s style of play, but we shall see how this situation plays out.